For anything more than casual use you need a field tripod that’s very stable, strong enough to withstand some serious abuse, and yet moves with fluid smoothness. Our Orion Paragon XHD Extra Heavy-Duty professional field tripod fills the bill, providing robust, heavy-duty support for giant astronomy binoculars, cameras, spotting scopes, and many compact telescopes such as the Orion ShortTube 80 Refractor Telescope, Apex 90, 102 and 127 Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescopes and more.

The Orion Paragon-Plus XHD Tripod is constructed almost exclusively of aluminum, making it stronger at key stress points where other plastic tripods fail. It features large, adjustable aluminum-tube legs with robust lock lever clamps for convenient setup and takedown. Each tripod leg features graduated reference etchings so you can quickly and easily extend each leg to the same preferred length - a great timesaver when trying to setup gear in a hurry. The tripod legs are tri-braced to the center elevator housing for extra stability. This Paragon-Plus XHD Tripod is 67" tall when fully extended, putting astronomical binoculars easily at eye level for most observers.

This extra heavy-duty Paragon XHD Tripod holds heavier loads than our HD-F2 Paragon tripod. Its tubular tripod legs measure 1-1/4-inch maximum diameter; and each leg is laterally braced with dual 3/4" aluminum tubes. The central elevator shaft is 1-1/8" diameter, and features 11-3/4" of vertical travel. Height of the tripod when fully extended is 67", and it collapses down to a portable 34". Weighs 9 lbs.

The Orion XHD Paragon-Plus tripod comes with a two-way fluid-type pan head. It features tension adjustment knobs on both axes for wonderfully smooth, controlled altazimuth motion. The pan head can be raised or lowered on its aluminum rack-and-pinion elevator post with a hinged hand crank. Panning is easy with the 11"-long adjustable handle. The quick-release 1/4"-20 dovetail shoe makes attaching and detaching your instrument from the pan head a snap. Other nice features include convertible cushion/spike feet and built-in bubble level.

Warranty

Limited Warranty against defects in materials or workmanship for one year from date of purchase. This warranty is for the benefit of the original retail purchaser only. For complete warranty details contact us at 800-676-1343.

Warning

Please note this product was not designed or intended by the manufacturer for use by a child 12 years of age or younger.

Astro-imaging capability

The astro-photographic capability of the telescope is based on the style, stability, and accuracy of the mount and tripod. Telescopes on either very lightweight mounts or non tracking mounts (such as Dobsonians) are capable of only very short exposures such as lunar photographs. If a motor drive is attached to an equatorial mount, even a small lightweight mount is capable of capturing some planetary detail. Larger EQ mounts that utilize very precise tracking and excellent stability are capable of longer exposure deep-sky photography.

Weight rating

The weight rating is a measure of how much the mount can handle before vibration become excessive. This specification is dependent on the shape of the telescope. For example, if you have two telescopes that both weigh 15 lbs., but one is a Cassegrain with a very short tube and the other is a very long focal length refractor, the Cassegrain will be more stable due to the fact that the tube itself is much shorter. The extra length of the refractor tube acts as a "lever arm" and vibrations become much more prominent. So be careful as you approach the weight capacity limit that you don't overload the mount with a very long tube.

Height range of mount

The height range specification is a measure of the tripod itself - not the eyepiece height. Since telescopes come in all shapes and sizes, the eyepiece height will vary, even when using the same tripod. For an EQ tripod the mount is set up so the counterweight shaft is horizontal, and then the height is measured from the ground to the center of the mounting plate.

Warranty

This warranty gives you specific legal rights. It is not intended to remove or restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law; your state or national statutory consumer rights governing the sale of consumer goods remain fully applicable.

One year

In The Box

Paragon XHD Extra Heavy Duty field tripod
Quick-release dovetail shoe

Shipping Info

Orders received by 1pm Eastern Time for in-stock items ship the same business day. Orders received after 1pm will ship the next business day. When an item is not in-stock we will ship it as soon as it becomes available. Typically in-stock items will ship first and backordered items will follow as soon as they are available. You have the option in check out to request that your order ship complete, if you'd prefer.

The 35" x 5" x 8" Orion Padded Tripod Case is a great way to carry and store your tripod legs. It is fully padded on all sides and is made of heavy, water-resistant polyester/nylon material to provide maximum protection for your tripod.

Securely attach binoculars to a tripod with the aluminum Orion Versatile Mounting Adapter for Binoculars. Its slim design allows it to be used to attach either porro-prism or roof-prism binoculars to a tripod for convenient hands-free viewing.

This Large aluminum L-adapter couples a binocular to a tripod head for mounted, hands-free viewing through binoculars. A captive 1/4"-20 bolt threads into receptacle in any compatible binocular bridge. Ideal for heavy astronomy binoculars.

At Orion, we are committed to sharing our knowledge and passion for astronomy and astrophotography with the amateur astronomy community. Visit the Orion Community Center for in-depth information on telescopes, binoculars, and astrophotography. You can find astrophotography "how to" tips and share your best astronomy pictures here. Submit astronomy articles, events, and reviews, and even become a featured Orion customer!